The new MacBook Air lineup, along with the refresh to the 13-inch
MacBook Pro, saw a new processor, faster flash and a bit more under the
hood.

Now, courtesy of Primate Labs’ John
Poole, a series of new benchmark tests have been published that outline
some of the performance upgrades that the new models have been provided.
As revealed in the reports, the scores are surely better than the
predecessor units, but those improvements might be minor enough that
upgrading this year might be something to hold off on, especially if you
picked up a new MacBook Air just last year.

As revealed in the 32-bit single-core test, both the stock Intel Core
i5 chip clocked at 1.6GHz and the upgraded 2.2GHz Intel Core i7
performed reasonably enough, showing slight improvements over the Intel
Haswell chips used in the 2014 models. That’s an improvement of about 6
percent. However, when put through the 64-bit multi-core benchmark, the
tests showed that the i7 chip increased by a total of 14% from last
year’s model.

Based on the report put together by Poole, he suggests that for
anyone looking to buy a MacBook Air, go for the multi-core processor.
Poole says the 20% faster single-core and 25 percent faster multi-core
performance when compared to the i5 processor is worth the 15% uptick in
price:

“If you’re thinking of buying the new MacBook Air I
would strongly recommend the i7 processor. It has 20% faster single-core
performance and 25% faster multi-core performance for only a 15%
increase in price.“

MacBook ProSingle-core performance increases between 3% to 7%
from Haswell to Broadwell, depending on the model. Multi-core
performance has increased 3% to 6%. The increases in performance are
roughly in line with the MacBook Pro's price differences.

“I have no recommendations regarding the processor
for the new MacBook Pro. The performance differences and the price
differences between the processors are roughly equivalent.“

The new MacBook Air lineup, along with the refresh to the 13-inch
MacBook Pro, saw a new processor, faster flash and a bit more under the
hood.

Now, courtesy of Primate Labs’ John
Poole, a series of new benchmark tests have been published that outline
some of the performance upgrades that the new models have been provided.
As revealed in the reports, the scores are surely better than the
predecessor units, but those improvements might be minor enough that
upgrading this year might be something to hold off on, especially if you
picked up a new MacBook Air just last year.

As revealed in the 32-bit single-core test, both the stock Intel Core
i5 chip clocked at 1.6GHz and the upgraded 2.2GHz Intel Core i7
performed reasonably enough, showing slight improvements over the Intel
Haswell chips used in the 2014 models. That’s an improvement of about 6
percent. However, when put through the 64-bit multi-core benchmark, the
tests showed that the i7 chip increased by a total of 14% from last
year’s model.

Based on the report put together by Poole, he suggests that for
anyone looking to buy a MacBook Air, go for the multi-core processor.
Poole says the 20% faster single-core and 25 percent faster multi-core
performance when compared to the i5 processor is worth the 15% uptick in
price:

“If you’re thinking of buying the new MacBook Air I
would strongly recommend the i7 processor. It has 20% faster single-core
performance and 25% faster multi-core performance for only a 15%
increase in price.“

MacBook ProSingle-core performance increases between 3% to 7%
from Haswell to Broadwell, depending on the model. Multi-core
performance has increased 3% to 6%. The increases in performance are
roughly in line with the MacBook Pro's price differences.

“I have no recommendations regarding the processor
for the new MacBook Pro. The performance differences and the price
differences between the processors are roughly equivalent.“